I WALK AND READ

Following from I Read Symbols and I Read Signs, this is a display of the familiar signs around town that most youngsters first learn to recognize—like WET PAINT and POLICE, RESTAURANT and U.S. MAIL and (what-does-that-mean?) POST NO BILLS. These are also the signs that youngsters should recognize: besides POLICE (and POLICE LINE), ENTRANCE and EXIT. A few pairs match up: FIRE, on the alarm box, with ENGINE 14, over the firehouse door; FIRE and POLICE box with public PHONE. As usual, Hoban's photo-subjects are varied in nature and form; here, she capitalizes on the graphic personality of shop signs—BAR-B-Q CHICKEN and FRESH FISH DAILY in neon, with an outline of each, PIZZA in metal block letters, BAKERY (and a wedding cake) painted onto the window glass. The excitement of signs, beginning in small-childhood, is partly reading, partly signification, partly street-art—and all parts are encapsulated in this latest, high-spirited Hoban album.